Nokia reveals its first Windows Phone

A video leaked today that shows the first working Windows Phone prototype device from Nokia.

The Nokia 'Sea Ray.' (Framegrab)

The phone, codenamed “Sea Ray,” looks almost exactly like the N9 smart phone Nokia announced this week. Except, the Sea Ray has one extra button, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said at a company meeting in Finland. But he didn’t say what the extra button is for.

“And by the way, that’s just the first (phone),” he said after an employee gave a demo of Windows Phone 7 – with the Mango software update – at work. “I have other devices completely different from that that are already working, as well.”

But let’s back up for a second and talk about the extra button. I know, it doesn’t sound all that significant – but it does when you remember the stringent hardware requirements Microsoft imposed on Windows Phone manufacturers last year.

Those specifications, in part, require phone makers to include three buttons on the front of any Windows Phone – a back button, a Start button and a search button. None of those three buttons appear on the Sea Ray prototype.

Did Microsoft relax its hardware restrictions for Nokia?

A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment. But, obviously, Nokia has some time to change the final phone.

During the company meeting, Elop said elements of Nokia’s MeeGo-based N9 phone will live on despite the Windows Phone partnership with Microsoft. Nokia will continue to focus on “beautiful industrial design,” he said, and will still support the Qt application-development platform.

Elop

“Another example is the user interface and user experience,” Elop said. “While we’re not saying precisely what device or when or how, but the user experience you see here is something that will live on, as well.”

Liveside.net reports that the Sea Ray, when it launches, “will ship with a full suite of Nokia applications, including Nokia Drive & Maps, an application that allow existing Nokia customers to transfer contacts to the new Nokia Windows Phone, localised apps based on specific geographies, and many more.”

Also of note: Elop spent half a minute talking about how the Sea Ray is “super confidential.”

“I’m just going to just ask everybody to put away your cameras, turn off all of the recording devices,” he said. “I’m serious because I’m going to share something with you that – it’s a big debate, should we show this in front of what will be thousands of people around the world? Because this is something that is super confidential and we do not want to see out in the blogosphere, wherever it is.”

Good try. And the leaked video, it appears, was the official feed from the company meeting. It is embedded below.